RACINE COUNTY — Some events have changed from in years past and others have been canceled, but communities across Racine County are still celebrating Independence Day this year.
City of Racine
The parade for 4th Fest of Greater Racine won’t be the same as in years past, but it’s still happening.
“This will be our 84th annual and we felt very strongly that we didn’t want to skip a year,” said Anna Clementi, a member of the 4th Fest Board of Directors.
According to records, the fest didn’t even cancel the parade in the past during wartime.
Instead of making its way down Main Street with crowds gathered Downtown, this year’s parade will be much smaller will make its way from Racine’s north side to the south side, and will end up at Festival Foods, 5740 Washington Ave., in Mount Pleasant, which is the major sponsor for the parade. The parade is set to begin at 10 a.m. to end at around 1 p.m.
Clementi admitted it was odd that 4th Fest can’t publish the parade route, at the request of the City Health Department, to prevent crowds from gathering. Traditionally 4th Fest’s calliope, an organ that plays festive circus-type music, is always the last float in the parade. This year the calliope will be at the front of the parade, so that when people hear it they will know the parade is in their neighborhood.
The parade will also feature World War II and Vietnam veterans to be honored and the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.
After making its stop at Festival Foods, the parade will head on to Caledonia-Mount Pleasant Memorial Park in Franksville at about 2:30 p.m. and plans to be at Crawford Park in Caledonia at about 3:30 p.m.
In addition to the parade, several churches will be ringing their bells in celebration from 9 to 9:04 a.m. on Saturday, in what 4th Fest is calling “Let Freedom Ring.”
The fest is also hosting a community-wide house decorating contest for anyone east of Interstate 94. As of early this week, there were about 20 entries. Judges and sponsors were set to view the houses on Friday and to announce winners sometime during the holiday weekend.
Clementi said that while 4th Fest directors were initially disappointed that they would have to scale down this year’s events, they plan to continue the bell ringing and house decorating contest in the future.
“Now we’re really looking at it as a way to introduce some new things,” she said
Those missing the traditional big 4th Fest parade can watch last year’s event on television on WCGV (My 24), at 10 a.m. Saturday. Clementi also advises locals to keep an eye on the 4th Fest Facebook page for photos and video of Saturday’s events.
Read more: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/july-4-activities-still-planned-in-racine-waterford-union-grove-burlington/article_46adfe77-ce9f-528e-bc5c-1381de54fda6.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1
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